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This parable clearly illustrates how Jesus was a good teacher. He often used stories in his teaching. These stories are called “parables” from the Greek word meaning “to lay alongside,” or “lie parallel.” These stories, taken from everyday life, had a meaning that was similar intention drawing the interesting details of the story to its's reader. A person who listened carefully, thinking about what Jesus had to say, could learn many things about living. To understand that different types of people have different responses to Jesus' teaching; to awaken the desire to be a person who has ears to hear what Jesus says and who lives a life that is productive and fruitful. When God looks into our hearts, what does He see? A human heart is pictured by Jesus in this parable, as having four possibilities, and clearly if this were a multiple-choice test, the best answer would be the fourth one, the good ground. The good ground is a pure heart: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!” (Matthew 5:8). Christ has given us in this parable, a list of spiritual “infirmities of the heart” that can afflict us.
Three Problematic Heart Conditions:
The sower is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and the birds are the demons, which snatch away the word from a man’s heart. They can only snatch it away if you care nothing for it. The demons cannot take away the word from your heart if you hold it close to yourself. Jesus is teaching us concerning how, positively, we can begin to remove obstacles from our hearts, and our hearing, things that can keep us from Him whom we seek. What makes the Parable of the Sower so powerful is the amazing truth about seeds. The Word is a seed; the seed will always function because of the power contained inside. However, the ground provides the seed with what it needs to grow and flourish after it is planted. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes four types of soil which translates to four different reactions to the seed. In this we see that the condition of the ground matters in the harvest. The condition of the person hearing the Word determines the outcome, not the seed itself. The Word is never the problem; instead it is how we react to it.
These are three problematic heart conditions of a human person that are at odds with the good heart condition:
The Path Condition:
The heart is deadened by busyness, immersion in the world, preoccupation with one's journey here and now, toward things to do and places to go to, that are merely of this passing world. Such a heart does not receive the living word into itself – God's word stays on the surface, where it is quickly taken away and forgotten. The path needs to be plowed, and watered: the heart needs a new "path" that is the path to life, to truth, to God. There is great danger in not understanding. The evil one only has access to snatch away the seed only if they are lying on the surface. In other words, the Word has to pass through our understanding. This is important. This is why, we must present the gospel with simplicity and explain truths at a level where everyone can understand.
The Rocky Condition:
The second soil is the superficial heart, because of interior hardness, the heart cannot sustain the new life of God it has received. The rocky soil represents those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. They're the opposite of the hard hearts. They are receptive. They are interested. Not only are they interested, they are emotional about it. They are exhilarated by it, and they receive it with joy. They're thrilled with it, but they receive the Word for the wrong motives and reasons – for selfish gain. But these have no root. It this case the word, the seed, is received into the heart, but the ground is artificial, insincere and shallow, which it does not permit the living word to take deep roots into itself. The word is received, but it is not well–rooted anchored in trusting Christ without a doubt. These are the doubtful and uncertain believers. They keep God’s word and life shallow in us, they keep our faith superficial and weak. They make it impossible for the word of God to endure and remain in us through life’s trials and tribulations! We must consider then the cause, or the source, of these rocks in a human heart, and remove them.
The Weedy Condition:
Weeds have a few common characteristics. They are aggressive, often quicker than useful plants at reproducing and spreading. They steal, robbing the moisture and nutrients from the more desirable plants. Since they are typically fast growing, they eventually steal the sunlight, too, by towering over the good plants. Then they crowd out the tender young shoots, stealing their space. Our spiritual lives work the same way. The world and the cares of it are all around us; we cannot totally eradicate its influences. But we can certainly manage them. What happens if we miss a day of prayer or Bible study? Spiritual weeds pop up. Weeds are entanglements, and they must be plucked up by the roots before they become firmly planted as habits. The new life of God has been received into the heart, but it is impeded and obstructed by another, a different, and indeed an opposing old life. Two very different "life–forms" are now planted and are growing in the same field–the same human heart. The living word of God has been received and is growing, but alongside useless and harmful thorns that are growing too. And these two "life–forms", in which these two lives are inherently incompatible with each other. One must overcome the other; we must choose one or the other. The thorns must be dealt with and removed, because they are choking out the living word of God, and rendering Him fruitless in us! We must consider then the cause, or the source, of these thorns in a human heart; they must be removed: “the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).
The Good Condition:
Luke uses good soil through defining it from the Greek verb, "katecho", which conveys the idea of holding securely to something so as to not allow it to be taken away. The representative with the good heart condition understands that it is really important to comprehend the Word. This is our first defense; we must hear the word with our understanding. So, the seed can go down, be protected from plain view and have a chance to produce. The good news in all of this is that God has given us the Holy Spirit for this very reason. The good soil illustration shows us that if we are faithful and committed to the Word of God, there is no demon or forces of evil that can snatch the Word away from our hearts. Because, we have put all our confidence, hope and trust in the Lord, therefore, we are anchored and secured in all His promises spoken unto us. A "good soil" recipient of the gospel is a person who clearly understands the message and sincerely embraces it; he or she warmly welcomes the truths of the gospel and adopts them into his own belief system. The "good soil" recipient of the gospel is a person who clearly understands the message, sincerely embraces the message, and holds on to it so that it will not be snatched away.